Volcanoes

News about volcanoes, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Apr. 24, 2015

Calbuco volcano in Chile erupts for second time, leaving many concerned about possibility of water contamination, respiratory illness and more grounded flights. MORE

Mar. 24, 2015

Residents of Pahoa on Hawaii's Big Island have been living with anxiety over path of slow-moving lava flow that has been inching toward town since June 2014, wondering all the while where lava may ooze next; although there is little risk of death due to lava's slow pace, not even geologists can predict which way lava will flow, with greatest worry being that lava will reach Route 130 highway to nearby town Hilo. MORE

Mar. 4, 2015

Villarrica volcano erupts, spewing ash, smoke and lava and prompting Chile's National Emergency Office to issue red alert and evacuate 3,500 people; 9,000 foot volcano, which sits above city of Pucon, is most active in South America. MORE

Feb. 1, 2015

Op-Ed article by science writer Peter Brannen describes how geologists have been debating whether asteroid or volcanic eruptions led to extinction of dinosaurs; notes that asteroid theory, proposed by Luis and Walter Alvarez, has long been dominant, but research by Gerta Keller has led to softening of positions in debate. MORE

Jan. 6, 2015

Scientists and officials are closely watching eruption of Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland and debating what may happen next; eruption has been relatively peaceful, but active volcanoes can be unpredictable. MORE

Nov. 11, 2014

Stream of lava hits the first home in a rural Hawaii town on the Big Island, which has been watching the slow-moving flow for months, and sets it on fire. MORE

Oct. 31, 2014

National Guard is deploying 83 service members to help provide security to the rural Hawaii town of Pahoa as lava makes a slow crawl toward a major road and threatens to further isolate community. MORE

Oct. 2, 2014

Japan is still struggling to count the dead, four days after worst volcanic disaster in its recent history; tragedy caught both experienced mountaineers and locals who revere Mount Ontake by surprise; 47 bodies have been found but officials remain uncertain on how high total could rise because they do not know how many people were on mountain. MORE

Sep. 30, 2014

Rescue workers trying to reach fallen hikers on Mount Ontake in Japan are forced to turn back for a second time because of high levels of poisonous gases near the volcano's peak; eight bodies have been recovered so far, bringing the confirmed death toll to 12. MORE

Sep. 29, 2014

Thirty-one mountain climbers are feared dead after volcano eruption at Mount Ontake in central Japan. MORE

Aug. 21, 2014

Penn State football team's season opener against Central Florida in Ireland could be imperiled by potential volcanic eruption in Iceland that could disrupt flights to Europe. MORE

Feb. 2, 2014

At least 14 people are killed in latest eruption of Mount Sinabung in Indonesia; officials warn volcano could erupt again and that death toll could rise. MORE

Apr. 7, 2013

Sep. 11, 2012

Thomas S Tobin study in journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology suggests that the extinction of dinosaurs as a result of a meteor strike was preceded by a mass extinction of marine animals caused by a volcanic eruption on the Deccan Plateau of India 200,000 years earlier; finding presents a more nuanced view of the mass extinction. MORE

Aug. 29, 2012

Alaska Gov Sean Parnell says major earthquake or volcanic eruption could leave the state’s 720,000 residents cut off from supply lines, and that he is planning to build warehouses full of emergency food in Anchorage and Fairbanks. MORE

May. 1, 2012

Andrew J Ryan study in journal Science suggests that a group of valleys near the Martian equator known as Athabasca Valles were not formed by ice, as some scientists have theorized, but more likely were formed by lava flows. MORE

Apr. 20, 2012

Santiago Xalitzintla Journal; Popocatepetl volcano near Santiago Xalitzintla, Mexico, scares Mexican authorities as it rumbles again and spews another cloud of ash, but lifelong residents nearby who see the volcano as a protector have no plans to evacuate. MORE

Feb. 14, 2012

Measurements show that the Uturuncu volcano in the Bolivian Andes has been growing at an unprecedented rate of more than half an inch a year for 20 years; researchers contend that the rapid growth could point to the creation of a new supervolcano, one that could produce an eruption a thousand times more massive than even the worst in modern history. MORE

Dec. 10, 2011

Active volcano periodically sends residents of the island of Miyake, Japan, scurrying to the safety of the mainland, but some remain deeply attached to their ancestral home. MORE